Christ, whose glory fills the skies,

Christ, the true, the only light,

Son of Righteousness, arise,

Triumph o’er the shades of night;

Dayspring from on high, be near;

Daystar, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn

Unaccompanied by thee;

Joyless is the day’s return,

Till they mercy’s beams I see;

Till they inward light impart,

Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,

Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;

Fill me, radiancy divine,

Scatter all my unbelief;

More and more thyself display,

Shining to the perfect day.

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:

Response:

And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen

From Easter to Pentecost:

Allelulia. Christ is risen!

Response:

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia

In Lent and other penitential occasions:

Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins;

Response:

His mercy endures for ever.

The Lord be with you.

Response:

And also with you.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, to whom all hearts be open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

This prayer is omitted during Lent and Advent:

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.  Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.  Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

The Collect of the day:

The priest now says the Collect for the day:

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Response:

Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD:

The first Reading:

Isaiah 5:1-7

Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.

He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;

he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,

judge between me
and my vineyard.

What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?

When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;

I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.

I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;

I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel,

and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;

he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;

righteousness,
but heard a cry!

After the Reading the reader says:

This is the Word of the Lord.

Response:

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 80:7-14

7 Restore us, O God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; *
you cast out the nations and planted it.

9 You prepared the ground for it; *
it took root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered by its shadow *
and the towering cedar trees by its boughs.

11 You stretched out its tendrils to the Sea *
and its branches to the River.

12 Why have you broken down its wall, *
so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?

13 The wild boar of the forest has ravaged it, *
and the beasts of the field have grazed upon it.

14 Turn now, O God of hosts, look down from heaven;
behold and tend this vine; *
preserve what your right hand has planted.

The Second Reading:

The Epistle

Philippians 3:4-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

After the Reading the reader says:

This is the Word of the Lord.

Response:

Thanks be to God.

All stand for the Gospel reading.

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:

Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Response:

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

After the Gospel reading

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Response:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Quite the easiest way to deal with the challenging story in today’s Gospel reading might well be to understand it simply as a metaphor for events with which we are already very familiar – another episode in the deadly and on-going confrontation between Jesus and the Jewish leadership of his day.   As we heard at the end of the passage, the Scribes and Pharisees perceived that Jesus was referring to them as the wicked tenants.   Therefore, they felt threatened and angry, and so decided to arrest him, in order to preclude any further undermining of their authority.   However, they had to wait for a more opportune time, because they feared resistance from the crowd.   And of course, we well recall what happened next – Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion – all followed by the resurrection that concluded the action, and began a whole new relationship between God and another people – the Gentiles.

To follow the story in this way is to see it as an allegory, explaining how the church grew beyond the control of the then religious establishment.   In such a symbolic narrative, each character corresponds to something in real life.   The wicked tenants represent the religious leaders in Jerusalem, the owner of the vineyard is God, the vineyard itself is Israel, the slaves sent to collect the owner’s share are the Old Testament Prophets, the son is Jesus, and the new tenants who would gain use of the vineyard are the Gentiles and/or Jews who were following Jesus.

But, to be honest, all this does is to provide us with a history lesson, and, in fact, one that we already know.   A more difficult way to deal with the story in today’s Gospel is to find courage enough to reflect on a more general theme that few like to consider – the concept of God as a judgemental deity.

How can we face the seeming inconsistency of knowing God as loving, gracious and all-giving on the one hand, and on the other – following the tone of today’s story – seeing God as a punishing and avenging entity?

And closer to home – can we face the question, “What connection is there between ourselves and the wicked tenants and the selfish, misguided religious leaders who rejected Jesus?” Could their fate also be ours?   After all, don’t we often shy away from what Christ would have us do?   Are we not sometimes selfish like the wicked tenants?   Do we not refuse to share the fruits of the “vineyard” just as stingily and stubbornly as they?   How often have we failed to respond lovingly to the gifts of God’s creation that surround our lives – the good earth, the resources we use to sustain ourselves, other people –and all who dwell beside us in this blessed life?  Does it not follow, then, that we also deserve to come to a miserable end?

But surely there is something wrong with such an assessment? Perhaps a better way to deal with this dilemma is to examine today’s story in the full context of the Gospel, to view it against the backdrop of all we know of God’s action in Christ.   Then we can draw a less harsh—and truer—conclusion about the conflict of experiencing a totally loving God and the punishment apparent in today’s story.   As Christians, we always start with the fact that God initiates the relationship with us, and not we with God.   God calls us to be in unity with him and with all people.   God’s reaching out to us is best understood as his giving us everything we have – with no strings attached and without our deserving it, without our having done anything to gain it.   Despite this, Jesus made it clear that we are the most precious beings in all creation – so valuable, as he proved on the cross, to be worth dying for!

We don’t have to earn God’s love; it is given – freely.   So, why would a loving God put us to a cruel death?   The answer to this question lies not in the possibility that we might wind up experiencing a miserable spiritual demise, but, if so, to recognise that such a fate can only result because of our choosing.   The wicked tenants received all they needed from the owner, but they refused to accept his graciousness and turned their backs on him, his servants, and even his Son.   They, by their actions and inactions, cast themselves out of the vineyard, no less than Adam and Eve’s disobedience resulted in their loss of all the delights of the Garden of Eden.   The miserable death we might experience can only result from our failure to accept the gifts of God and respond to them in thanksgiving, and by reflecting God’s love back on that creation, and everything in it.   It can only result from our selfishly acting as if the vineyard belongs to us – or should be all ours and no one else’s, let alone God’s!

It is not so much that God’s patience with us might eventually run out, causing us to come to a wretched end.   It is more like our time runs out, only because we wait too long to catch on to what God wants for us, and then we actually, by our actions or inactions, cast ourselves out of God’s vineyard, producing a self-inflicted kind of misery that only we alone can create.

Today’s Gospel story, of course, provides for us a warning about what we can miss out on if we act like the wicked servants.   It reminds us of the great theme of stewardship that is so central to the life of the church, and to the healthful focus of individual Christians.   When we sing those familiar words, “Praise God from who all blessings flow,” we need to remember the actions that they imply – that we need to “walk the talk” by remembering that what we have is not ours to own, but is only on loan from God. We need to remember that God’s way of grace and love is wooing us to respond to our good fortune of living in his vineyard, by reflecting that love in our actions toward others.   That as we care for, as we exercise stewardship over God’s creation – especially our fellow human beings – we do so as a reflection of God’s love.   That love is poured out to us in such measure that it overflows from us, and through us can pour out onto all creation. An overflow that allows us to maintain God’s creation, preserve it, and protect it from harm. An overflow that impels us to love others and share with them the Good News of God in Christ – a truth they might miss if we ignore our mission, and neglect that which so graciously enriches us.

If then, in reflecting on today’s Gospel story, we will concentrate on God’s setting us up in a fabulous vineyard, lovingly and bountifully giving us all we have, we can recognise that this is his way of coaxing us, and wooing us, and encouraging us into being good and faithful servants – good and loving workers in the world he has left to our care – good and faithful followers of his son, Jesus. Wooing us to give, and pray for the spread of his Kingdom, and for the wellbeing of his children, all of them our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Amen

Please stand for the Nicene Creed.

Let us together affirm the faith of the Church.

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary,

and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

Let us pray for the world and for the Church:

Prayers of intercession are now said and at the end of each prayer the priest says:

Lord in your mercy,

Response:

Hear our prayer.

or

Lord hear us,

Response:

Lord graciously hear us

At the conclusion of the prayers the priest says:

Almighty God, who has promised to hear our prayers.

Response:

Grant that what we have asked in faith we may by your grace receive, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Jesus said: Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

or

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

THE CONFESSION:

God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy, welcoming sinners and inviting them to the Lord’s table.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, confident in God’s forgiveness.

Merciful God, our maker and our judge, we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do: we have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves; we repent and are sorry for all our sins, Father forgive us, strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

Almighty God, who has promised forgiveness to all who turn to him in faith, pardon you and set you free from all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

THE PEACE:

The congregation stands.

We are the Body of Christ.

Response:

His Spirit is with us.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Response:

And also with you.

Please greet each other with a sign of peace.

Thy hand, O God, has guided

Thy flock, from age to age;

The wondrous tale is written,

Full clear, on every page;

Our fathers owned thy goodness,

And we their deeds record;

And both of this bear witness,

One Church, one Faith, one Lord.

Thy heralds brought glad tidings

To greatest, as to least;

They bade men rise and hasten

To share the great King’s feast;

And this was all their teaching, In every deed and word,

To all alike proclaiming

One Church, one Faith, one Lord.

Through many a day of darkness,

Through many a scene of strife,

The faithful few fought bravely

To guard the nation’s life.

Their gospel of redemption,

Sin pardoned, man restored,

Was all in this enfolded,

One Church, one Faith, one Lord.

Thy mercy will not fail us,

Nor leave thy work undone;

With thy right hand to help us,

The victory shall be won;

And then, by men and angels,

Thy name shall be adored,

And this shall be their anthem,

One church, one Faith, one Lord.

THE OFFERTORY

Blessed are you, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have these gifts to share. Accept and use our offerings for your glory and the service of your kingdom.

Response:

Blessed be God forever.

 Let us pray

We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.  We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose nature is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.  Amen.